the library could not be opened

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homerola Author

Level 1

15 points

the library could not be opened

Hello,

I moved my photo library to an external drive. When I plug in the drive and try to open Photos, I get an error message:

"the library could not be opened... Photos was unable to open the library

"Photos Library photoslibrary". (5600)"

If I restart the MacBook, it'll work fine and this used to work fine in previous MacOS versions.

If it helps, the drive is a 4TB that's encrypted. I can access everything via Finder, macOS Ventura 13.0.1.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 13.0

Posted on Dec 16, 2022 12:44 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

homerola Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 19, 2023 8:55 AM in response to homerola

Hello again, Yes - I always unmount the drive properly in Finder.

The drive is Format: APFS (Encrypted).

Tried it again just today after updating to Ventura 13.1. Seems to be resolved. Photos opens without system restart.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

210,539 points

Dec 16, 2022 1:11 PM in response to homerola

Is the drive your boot drive or an external drive? If external how is it formatted? It must be either Mac OS Extended (journaled) or APFS, referable with ownership set to be ignored. A Photos library will not work on any other format.

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Answer 3

homerola Author

Level 1

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Dec 16, 2022 1:14 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks for the info - it works just fine after the MacBook has been restarted. If I unplug the drive and plug it back in later, it won't work.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

210,539 points

Dec 16, 2022 1:42 PM in response to homerola

Do you unmount the drive before disconnecting it?

Also how is it formatted?

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Answer 5

homerola Author

Level 1

15 points

Feb 10, 2023 7:35 AM in response to homerola

Actually, error still occurs. Ths time error is Photos was unable to open the library “Photos Library.photoslibrary”. (4302)

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the library could not be opened

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